I need help determining if i am being bottlenecked by my CPU

Jordan_46

Commendable
May 21, 2016
2
0
1,510
I recently installed a gtx960 2GB into my PC, when i tried playing some games i noticed it is not performing how it should. i know the 960 is no powerhouse but it should still be able to run grand theft auto 5 on the lowest settings with vsync turned completely off. i was getting 20fps avg in the prologue. i also experienced this on ark: survival evolved and battlefield 4. after researching, i think i am being bottlenecked by my CPU. sorry if im not much help, but im new to PC gaming and not overly experienced. here is my cpu:

AMD A8-7650K Radeon R7, 10 Compute Cores 4C+6G
 
Solution
Try using a program like driver sweeper or display driver uninstaller (ddu) to make sure all the video drivers are gone. If the drivers for your apu video are still there it may conflict with the nvidia drivers. Then download and install the nvidia drivers, make a fresh install of them. If the error says something like "you are not using a display attached to an nvidia gpu" when you click on the nvidia control panel then you should double check where your monitor is plugged into.

Here's a generic pic off tweaktown just to show the back of the pc to illustrate what I mean. In red I circled where the video out port is for your onboard graphics, if your monitor is plugged into this set of ports/plugs it's using the wrong gpu. In green I...
Not trying to insult you but you checked to make sure you're running off the 960, have the monitor connected to it and not the onboard graphics port? Wondering if maybe you forgot to swap the monitor cable and still running off the apu.

If not then it could be the cpu. A 770 is slightly faster than a 960 in gta v at 1080p.
http://www.techspot.com/review/991-gta-5-pc-benchmarks/page2.html

At 'very high' graphics the 770 paired with the 7650k at 1080p was only pushing an average of 40fps, shave a few fps off for the 960 to get a ballpark idea and I would guess 30fps or so.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9217/the-amd-a8-7650k-apu-review-also-new-testing-methodology/8

If you're gaming on high or very high settings in the games you're playing, keep an eye on your avg fps. Then try lowering the graphics quality to normal or the minimum levels. If your average fps don't improve then it's your cpu holding you back. Otherwise if fps improves then it would indicate the gpu couldn't keep up. The avg fps won't change much regardless what quality settings you're using if the cpu is bottlenecking the card.
 

Jordan_46

Commendable
May 21, 2016
2
0
1,510


i tried checking and im fairly sure im running off of the 960, although when i try to open the NVIDIA control panel i get a message saying im not using an nvidia display. any ideas? sorry again if im being stupid
 
Try using a program like driver sweeper or display driver uninstaller (ddu) to make sure all the video drivers are gone. If the drivers for your apu video are still there it may conflict with the nvidia drivers. Then download and install the nvidia drivers, make a fresh install of them. If the error says something like "you are not using a display attached to an nvidia gpu" when you click on the nvidia control panel then you should double check where your monitor is plugged into.

Here's a generic pic off tweaktown just to show the back of the pc to illustrate what I mean. In red I circled where the video out port is for your onboard graphics, if your monitor is plugged into this set of ports/plugs it's using the wrong gpu. In green I circled the display port coming off of a pcie gpu card down lower in the pcie slots. That's where you want your monitor plugged into to use the gtx 960.

http://prntscr.com/b6uur9
 
Solution